Philosophy of Nursing

In 2003, the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing (Hartford Institute), in collaboration with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, conducted a survey of baccalaureate schools of nursing in the United States to compare gerontological content to baseline data collected by the Hartford Institute in 1997. Since last surveyed in 1997, baccalaureate nursing programs have been the recipients of substantial new resources and initiatives focused on gerontological curriculum enhancement. While these initiatives are ongoing, and some are in an early stage of development, resurveying baccalaureate programs was seen as a means of taking a midcourse "pulse" as to the effectiveness of these efforts. Data suggest that there has been a fundamental shift in baccalaureate curriculum toward incorporation of a greater amount of gerontological content, integration of gerontological content in a greater number of nursing courses, and more diversity of clinical ...

Since its inception, phenomenological philosophy has exerted an influence on empirical science. But what is the best way to practice, use and apply phenomenology in a non-philosophical context? How deeply rooted in phenomenological philosophy must qualitative research be in order to qualify as phenomenological? How many of the core commitments of phenomenology must it accept? In the following contribution, I will take a closer look at Max van Manen’s work. I will argue that van Manen’s understanding of and presentation of phenomenology is quite problematic and that his book "Phenomenology of Practice" rather than amounting to a clear and accessible presentation of the phenomenological method that would make it do-able to researchers who are not themselves professional philosophers is in fact both abstruse and excessively complicated. I will then turn to nursing, and by taking that as my example, outline a better way to apply and practice phenomenology.

Background. The World Health Organisation's Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion in 1986 sought to create a framework for health promotion action that conveyed the notion of capacity building as it related to specific settings. It provided the catalyst from which the health-promoting ...

The paper addresses the question of normative analysis of the value-based aspects of nursing. In our perspective, values in science may be distinguished into: a) epistemic when related to the goals of truth and objectivity; b) non-epistemic when related to social, cultural or political aspects. Furthermore, values can be called constitutive when necessary for a scientific enterprise, or contextual when contingently associated with science. Analysis of the roles of the various forms of values and models of knowledge translation provides the ground to understand the specific role of values in nursing. A conceptual framework has been built to classify some of the classical perspectives on nursing knowledge and to examine the relationships between values and different forms of knowledge in nursing. It follows that adopting a normative perspective in the analysis of nursing knowledge provides key-elements to identify its proper dimension.

In the culture of health care, nurses are challenged to understand their values and beliefs as humanistic within complex technical and economically driven bureaucratic systems. This article outlines the language of social justice and human rights and the advance of a Theory of Relational Caring Complexity, which offers insights into caring as emancipatory nursing praxis. Recommendations provide knowledge of the struggle to balance economics, technology, and caring. As nurses practice from a value-driven, philosophical, and ethical social justice framework, they will find “their voice” and realize the full potential that the power of caring has on patient and organizational outcomes. Key words: caring, human rights, nursing praxis, social justice, Theory of Relational Caring Complexity

Maori are often confronted with nursing practices and services that are at odds with their traditionally wholistic and spiritually based worldview. Keeping Maori clients the central focus of nursing practice can be challenging for nurses but is one way they can increase their efficacy when working with Maori. However, in the nursing literature there is an absence of models to guide Maori centred nursing practice, that is, models constructed within a Maori cultural context. Te Kapunga Putohe (the restless hands) is a Maori centred nursing practice model that uses the hands to illustrate how Maori knowledge and the knowledge of nurses can be incorporated into the health experiences of Maori clients. This paper explains how nurses who possess knowledge of Te Ao Maori can use Te Kapunga Putohe (the restless hands) to work with Maori in a culturally appropriate and acceptable way to improve health outcomes.

Personal integrity is often seen as a core value for delivering ethical healthcare. This paper will explore what this might mean and particularly what place integrity has in a multi-professional healthcare system. Two opposing arguments can be made: the first is that the multi-professional nature of modern healthcare means that personal integrity is at best a futile luxury and at worst, an obstacle to delivering affordable high-quality care to large populations. The converse is that without personal integrity healthcare loses its humanity and becomes mere biological and social engineering. Part of the analysis rests on whether integrity is primarily a personally held moral framework or whether it is a social concept. Chester Calhoun's analysis, in which she identifies the integrated-self, personal identity, and (morally) clean-hands as three pictures of integrity, is used as the basis for suggesting that integrity is a rich and complex social virtue through which the individual ...

This article describes the Holistic Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. It defines holistic nursing, its five core values, and its practice standards. These include holistic philosophy, theory, and ethics; holistic caring process; holistic communication, therapeutic environment, and cultural diversity; holistic education and research; and holistic nurse self-care. Educational preparation for holistic nursing and settings in which holistic nurses practice are also explored.